Exelixis (NASDAQ:EXEL) Cut to “Buy” at Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen cut shares of Exelixis (NASDAQ:EXEL) from a strong-buy rating to a buy rating in a research note published on Saturday morning.

A number of other analysts have also commented on EXEL. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of Exelixis from $40.00 to $49.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, July 13th. Zacks Research downgraded shares of Exelixis from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Monday, August 3rd. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on shares of Exelixis from $50.00 to $53.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, July 23rd. Barclays upped their price target on shares of Exelixis from $45.00 to $49.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 14th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus raised their price objective on shares of Exelixis from $47.00 to $51.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 6th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, ten have issued a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Exelixis has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $49.79.

Exelixis Stock Down 2.1%

Shares of NASDAQ EXEL opened at $52.96 on Friday. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $54.22 and its 200 day simple moving average is $48.03. The stock has a market capitalization of $13.31 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.65, a PEG ratio of 1.63 and a beta of 0.44. Exelixis has a 52-week low of $33.76 and a 52-week high of $57.57.

Exelixis (NASDAQ:EXEL) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, August 5th. The biotechnology company reported $0.91 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.85 by $0.06. The business had revenue of $628.69 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $636.40 million. Exelixis had a return on equity of 42.17% and a net margin of 35.33%.Exelixis’s revenue was up 10.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.75 earnings per share. As a group, analysts anticipate that Exelixis will post 3.15 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other Exelixis news, Director Sue Gail Eckhardt sold 9,812 shares of Exelixis stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $50.14, for a total transaction of $491,973.68. Following the transaction, the director owned 16,079 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $806,201.06. The trade was a 37.90% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CFO Christopher J. Senner sold 34,901 shares of Exelixis stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $50.00, for a total value of $1,745,050.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 952,317 shares in the company, valued at approximately $47,615,850. This trade represents a 3.54% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last three months, insiders sold 130,824 shares of company stock worth $6,555,231. Corporate insiders own 2.60% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in EXEL. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of Exelixis by 81.6% during the 1st quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 43,181 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $1,592,000 after buying an additional 19,407 shares during the period. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Exelixis by 4.9% in the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 1,466,779 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $54,153,000 after acquiring an additional 68,133 shares during the last quarter. Focus Partners Wealth increased its stake in shares of Exelixis by 83.4% in the first quarter. Focus Partners Wealth now owns 38,458 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $1,420,000 after acquiring an additional 17,483 shares during the last quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Exelixis by 134.3% during the first quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 1,647 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $61,000 after acquiring an additional 944 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sivia Capital Partners LLC raised its holdings in shares of Exelixis by 23.8% during the second quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC now owns 14,362 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $633,000 after acquiring an additional 2,764 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 85.27% of the company’s stock.

About Exelixis

Exelixis, Inc is a biotechnology company specializing in the discovery, development and commercialization of small molecule therapies primarily for the treatment of cancer. Building on a platform that leverages model organism genetics and high-throughput screening, the company focuses its research on kinase inhibitors that modulate critical signaling pathways involved in tumor growth and metastasis. Exelixis’s translational research approach aims to advance novel compounds from early-stage discovery through clinical development and regulatory approval.

The company’s most recognized products include CABOMETYX® (cabozantinib), approved for the treatment of advanced renal cell carcinoma and hepatocellular carcinoma, and COMETRIQ® (cabozantinib) for metastatic medullary thyroid cancer.